The departing Aged Care Commissioner says the government does not have a proper plan for the health of our ageing population despite data showing that in three years, there will be 1 million people aged 65 years or older living in New Zealand.
Carolyn Cooper finishes the job this Friday - three and a half years into a five year term, in which she has been outspoken about the need for better aged care beds for older people, particularly in rural and provincial New Zealand.
She's also drawn attention to the workforce shortages in aged care, long wait times for older people seeing GPs and a lack of home and community support services.
No replacement for her has been named. Ms Cooper has been a senior manager in two DHBs and is a former Managing Director and Lead Nurse at Bupa NZ.
